The Leftovers: Paris Fashion Week FW10

Better safe than sorry.

This mantra is one that has ruled many facets of my life. Now as I watch my late 20s fast approach, I realize that it lacks merit. It’s a statement that I've used as a crutch to avoid the failure that comes from taking chances.

Paris, as is its way, forced me again and again out of the safe zone that I love so much. That place that is comfortable and warm and filled with navies and dark denim and at least seven black dresses. (I gave myself only 30 seconds to think of the dresses. The number would have been higher if the entire minute had been used.)

There were those designers, as there always are in Paris, who took chances one didn't see in other cities.

At Gareth Pugh

At Haider Ackermann

At Balenciaga

On the day Alexander McQueen died, I was on my way home from a long day at work. Disconnected from the world at large as I had gone without access to my phone and computer, I was unaware that anything had changed as I trudged home and pulled out my cell phone. It was then that a friend told me, assuming that I already knew. It's weird to think that your life can be affected by the end of someone's who you've never met, but as I sat down later that week and thought of which shows had caused me to fall deeper and deeper in love with this world, three of the ten were McQueen. Only he could make chessboards and holograms and alien/sea creature amalgams at once beautiful, haunting and awe-inspiring. The pieces shown in Paris only displayed the kind of innovation we will be missing in future years.

The trends that dominated the previous fashion weeks were, of course, all over Paris as well. The minimalism that originated at Céline last season found its way onto almost every runway and in every city for Fall/Winter 2010.

Stella McCartney showed clothes that spoke of the season while also being seasonless. Pieces that will never find themselves in the far recesses of your closet.

Alber Elbaz at Lanvin took his exquisite hand to this trend as well. Sharp tailoring in muted colors reigned.

With the occasional flourish.

But no one really did it as well as Phoebe Philo did and continues to do.

Then there was of course the military...

At Junya Watanabe

At Isabel Marant

At Sophia Kokosalaki

The 70s..

At Kenzo

At Yves Saint Laurent

At Chloé

and the fur.

At Nini Ricci

At Costume National

Chanel featured a parade of girls stomping around an iceberg in their shaggy fake fur boots. Once one got past the spectacle of it all, there were beauties to be seen.

And like London before it, you'll only be needing one piece in Paris next fall.

At Chloé

At Hermès

At Giambattista Valli

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Fading Out

This Marc by Marc Jacobs dress has everything I need in a summer dress.


Cinching at the narrowest part of me.

Pockets.

A carefree feel.

And sundried colors.


Photo via

The Leftovers: Milan Fashion Week FW10

I found myself more in love with Milan this season than I was last season. Love might be stretching it a bit. Let's say that I was less dissatisfied. This shift might have had something to with the inclusion of color, something that had been missing from the other cities. I shy away from wearing bright colors, even though I'm constantly told how good they would look on me and how lucky I am that I can wear them. But even with my proclivity for navy and gray, there was something a bit too melancholy about the runway without the brights. So when they showed up in Milan, I rejoiced.

At Bottega Veneta

At Moschino Cheap & Chic

And, of course, Milan did what it does best. The Sexy.

At Gucci

At Dsquared²

At Emilio Pucci

Outside of the occasional brights and the sex, Milan followed the themes that had been established in New York and London.

There were fur accents...

At Alberta Ferretti

And the military inspiration...

At Moschino Cheap & Chic

At Etro

At MaxMara

At Trussardi 1911

At Fendi

And the minimalism.

At Iceberg

The 1970s trend that peeked out in New York and gathered strength in London reached its peak in Milan.

At No. 21

At Aquilano.Rimondi

But nowhere was it more prevalent than at Salvatore Ferragamo.

But even then you'll need your camel coat.

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Favorite of the Day: Miu Miu

Miuccia Prada commanded my attention for the second time this season with the collection at Miu Miu.

And she even has me lusting after an orange dress. To get me to do such a thing takes a level of talent that I can't fathom.

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The Leftovers: London Fashion Week FW10

There were many reasons that the jump from New York to London excited me. Less fur. Almost no velvet. The fact that Burberry stayed in town for another season.

The mood in London was minimal. And for that reason, it seemed to be lacking some of the energy that I normally associate with it. Even in the fall and winter, I have come to expect something a bit wild, crazy, experimental. There were still some of these elements, but there was definitely also a certain coldness to the clothes. I haven't fully decided yet if that shift was a good or bad thing. But with my love for the simple, I'll probably end up falling into the good camp.

The prints were still there, though this season saw them in the muted colors that have been dominating the runways for the past few weeks.

At Emilio De La Moreno

At Mary Katrantzou

At Matthew Williamson

At Peter Pilotto

As they were in New York, the 90s were on also display in London, but instead of school girls and the first new inklings of grunge, the minimalism of that decade was the focus.

At Maria Grachvogel

London, the first to reintroduce the 1980s to us, has tired of the decade. And, as was seen in small ways on the New York runways, has decided to take us back just a bit further.

At Aquascutum

At Amanda Wakeley

At Margaret Howell

Burberry Prorsum stayed true to the military inspiration that they began playing with in their pre-fall collection and created a cadre of coats and boots that I would like to add to my collection immediately.

But if there is only one thing to take away from London (and from Paris as well, as you'll soon see), you're going to need a camel coat next fall.

At Aquascutum

At Jaeger London

At Nicole Farhi

At Clements Ribeiro

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